Toronto’s Tamil-Canadian community gears up to host new refugees

The Tamil-Canadian community has come together for the 490 refugees who came on board MV Sun Sea. Hotlines are in place, a trust fund has been set up and a search is on for families who can help host refugees.

Vathany Uthayam a volunteer at the Canadian Tamil Congress, takes calls Saturday, Aug. 14, 2010, from Canadian Tamils with questions about the refugees on the MV Sun Sea ship. Many volunteers have been working till 2 a.m., answering questions, finding funds and host families.

By:Raveena AulakhStaff Reporter, Published on Sat Aug 14 2010

When Vathany Utayam first heard about the imminent arrival of refugees in a ship off the coast near Victoria, B.C., she knew she was in for long, long days of work.

“I didn’t realize just how busy it would be,” said Utayam, a volunteer with the Canadian Tamil Congress.

She has spent between 8 to 14 hours every day this past week answering questions, trying to raise money and making calls to local Tamil families, asking if they can host the refugees when they eventually make their way to Toronto.

She’s not the only one.

Toronto’s Tamil-Canadian community has rallied together in an extraordinary manner to provide assistance for the 490 refugees, including an estimated 50 children, who landed in Esquimalt, B.C., early Friday morning from the MV Sun Sea.

The men, women and children, who left south-east Asia in April, have been turned away from at least two other countries, Australia and Thailand. They are all expected to seek asylum.

Dozens of Tamil-speaking volunteers flew to Vancouver Island as the Sun Sea, docked and prepared to offer translation, health assistance and financial help.

At least two Toronto lawyers, specializing in immigration and refugee law, are also at hand to provide legal help if needed.

But it’s here in Toronto that the bulk of the work is being done.

“The phone hasn’t stopped ringing,” said Utayam, whose regular job is with York Region. Hundreds of families from across Canada and Europe are calling to check if their relatives are on board the Sun Sea, she said.

Others are calling to ask what they can do to help the refugees, said Utayam. “We’ve been getting calls as late at 1 a.m.”

While the Tamil community was largely caught by surprise when Ocean Lady, with 76 Tamil refugees on board, arrived off Vancouver Island last fall, preparations were made in advance for the Sun Sea. Doctors, lawyers and social workers were lined up to fly to Victoria when the boat docked and hotlines were set up so that people knew where to call.

But no one had prepared for the unexpected large number of people — 490.

It means finding more lawyers and local families who will host refugees when they come to the Toronto area after they have been evaluated. That process will likely take months.

“Some people will have families … some won’t,” said Manjula Selvarajah, a spokesperson for the Canadian Tamil Congress. “We have already started asking the community for every bit of help.”

About a dozen refugees from Ocean Lady didn’t have any family in Canada and the organization found families who paid their bond money and played host.

Toronto is home to nearly 200,000 Tamils, believed to be the largest diaspora. It’s expected that most refugees from Sun Sea will eventually head here because they’ll find an existing network of support here.

Most of the 76 men, who came aboard Ocean Lady, are now in Toronto, awaiting hearings at the Immigration and Refugee Board.

Organizations are also beginning to collect donations to pay for phone bills, lawyers and airfare for the most recent refugees. Others are collecting essentials supplies like traditional Tamil attire for men, night clothing, towels, toothbrushes and toothpaste to ship to Vancouver.

“We sent a shipment of 15 boxes (on Saturday) and another 12 are now ready to go,” said Krisna Saravanamuttu, a spokesperson for National Council of Canadian Tamils.

He said lawyers are also in communication with B.C. Children’s Aid about the fate of the children. “We’ve sent a social worker to see if she can directly work with the children … they’ve been on the ship for three months. I can’t imagine what their mental state is.”

A trust fund has also been set up where people can make contributions, said Saravanamuttu. Donations to the Tamil Refugee Trust Fund can be made at any Bank of Montreal branch, transit no. 2986. account no. 8153270.

“It’s fantastic how the community has mobilized.”

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